Women’s Herbal Wisdom
(Page 6 of 7)
March/April 2005
By Linda B. White, M.D.
A report in the January 2004 issue of Maturitas reviewed the research. Out of 10 well-designed studies, four found that soy modestly improved perimenopausal symptoms. In the May 2004 Alternative Medicine Alert, Monica Stokes, M.D., an integrative ob-gyn doctor in San Francisco, writes that, despite the muddy research, “it is clear that regular consumption of soy during the menopausal period may be helpful for some of the typical symptoms encountered.”
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In Corbin’s experience, soy helps control hot flashes and has additional benefits of preserving bone and lowering cholesterol. Lee believes the emphasis should shift from popping soy during perimenopause to regularly consuming that bean and other phytoestrogen-rich foods all our lives. She adds that incorporating soy into a healthy diet is safe and does not seem to raise the risk of breast cancer or interfere with thyroid hormones.
How much soy is enough has yet to be established. Doses in studies range from 20 to 125 mg of isoflavones a day. The more processed the product, the more likely the isoflavone depletion. According to the Soy Foods Association of America, 1/2 cup of cooked soybeans provides between 50 and 78 mg of isoflavones; 1/4 cup roasted soybeans, 78 mg; 1/2 cup tempeh, 53 mg isoflavones; 1/2 cup tofu, 25 mg; 1 cup soymilk, 10 mg (43 mg, if fortified). Other sources of phytoestrogens include red clover, legumes, alfalfa, hops, licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, buckwheat, millet and other whole grains.
Change-of-Life Herbs
Women have long relied on herbs to get them through “The Change.” The list includes dong quai, Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng), licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), vitex, St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum), red clover (Trifolium pratense) and black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa). The best researched of these herbs is black cohosh.
Most of the research on black cohosh has used a proprietary isopropanolic extract called Remifemin, produced in Germany but marketed in the United States. A 1998 review of eight black cohosh studies published in the Journal of Women’s Health concluded, “It is apparent that it is a safe, effective alternative to estrogen replacement therapy for those patients in whom estrogen replacement therapy is either refused or contraindicated.”
Because black cohosh is at risk of becoming endangered in the wild, it’s best to look for a product that uses organically grown black cohosh, such as Herb Pharm’s black cohosh liquid extract (see Page 28 for more about endangered herbs).
In a German study published in Maturitas in 2003, women aged 40 to 60 randomly received either 40 mg of black cohosh extract, 0.6 mg conjugated estrogens or a placebo. The herb was equivalent to estrogen in controlling perimenopausal symptoms and protecting bones. While estrogen stimulated cell division in the uterus (raising the risk for cancer), black cohosh did not.
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